tonight, growing concerns some states are reopening too soon georgia just hours away now despite bipartisan backlash president trump reversing course and strongly disagrees with the governor in las vegas, controversy over the mayor's call to open casinos. our exclusive access inside ceasers palace empty and another meat plant shutting down are we headed for a shortage also, the staggering new unemployment numbers, 26 million americans out of work in just five weeks desperation mounting, billions more in relief money for small businesses on the way as ruth's chris is giving the money it got back. a stunning result from the first wide spread

antibody testing, what it reveals a hidden outbreak infecting millions how long was it here before anyone knew? the fears tonight of a second wave. >> my fear is people get out there too quickly, too many people get sick. >> what americans are saying about what they'll feel safe going back to public places like gyms, restaurants and hair salons. the top player in tonight's nfl draft, his moving message about a struggle impacting his hometown and millions of other american families in this pandemic. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, everyone the push from some quarters to reopen the country is running up against hard facts tonight. the death toll still inching upward, now over 48,000 but at the same time, unemployment numbers have risen to numbers worse than the great depression tonight, georgia calculating it's better to send people back to work even as president trump questions whether there are plans to reopen tomorrow go too far. our team is covering a

lot of ground tonight we start with blayne alexander. >> reporter: while a few states are hours away from opening their doors, tonight the governor of illinois says he is extending his stay-at-home order for another month. >> we need to keep going a little while longer to finish the job. >> reporter: a different story in georgia where governor kemp is doubling down on his move to start reopening even after bipartisan backlash tweeting our next measured step is driven by data and we'll continue with this approach to protect the lives and livelihoods of all georgians. it comes after a rare rebuke from president trump. >> i disagree strongly with his decision. >> reporter: blasting his move to allow hair and nail salons, barbershops and bowling alleys to reopen tomorrow despite the state not meeting white house guidelines for a two-week decline in cases. >> i love the people that use spas and beauty parlors and barbershops, tattoo parlors. i love them, but they

can wait a little bit longer, just a little bit, not much because safety has to dominate. >> reporter: one new model shows georgia is set to hit the peak next weekdays after businesses open their doors isabella is leading a drive by protest. >> we can't pay taxes if we're dead we can't pay taxes if we're sick and we have no income. >> reporter: the move to reopen restaurants is a big relief for this owner he says his four locations are ready to go. when your customers come in, what will they notice that is different? >> a new normal. the table will be spaced out we'll be using paper menus, disposable paper menus and disposable glassware. >> reporter: and more states to follow in tennessee and ohio some businesses start reopening may 1st and tomorrow openings in alaska and oklahoma where spas, salons and pet groomers will see the first business in weeks. some oklahoma store owners are

getting back to business with mixed feelings. >> we're so excited to be open, at the same time, you know, you got that in the back of your head, that fear. >> reporter: oklahoma has seen 179 covid-19 deaths including we learned today 86-year-old don reid oldest brother of senator elizabeth warren warren tweeting i'm grateful to the nurses and front line staff who took care of him, but it's hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say i love you one more time. in south dakota, major changes to get one of the state's biggest businesses back to work the cdc recommends increased distance, spacing out lockers and plexi glass. 25% of the nation's pork production is shut down and now, new york governor andrew cuomo is launching an investigation into nursing homes. nationwide are linked nbc news found nearly

11,000 deaths in nursing homes nationwide are linked to coronavirus. >> they get paid to take care of a resident, and if they don't, we will take appropriate action. >> reporter: a move to contain some of the nation's biggest hot spots. blayne alexander, nbc news, atlanta. >> reporter: i'm steve patterson in las vegas another day along an empty strip and inside cesars palace silence. we were granted exclusive access, rows of vacant slots and dark blackjack tables. for years, this has been operating around the clock every day, 24 hours a day. on a typical day there would be 50,000 people in here and now it's empty. >> i want our restaurants to open i want our small businesses open i want our people back in employment. >> reporter: the mayor who has no jurisdiction over the strip

has repeatedly pressed for its swift reopening but on cnn didn't offer guidance how to do it safely. >> they better figure it out that's their job that's not the mayor's job. >> reporter: nevada has more than 4,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and fewer than 200 deaths. >> hasn't it been because of social distancing that the numbers are been what they are >> how do you know until we have a controlled group we offered to be a controlled group. >> you're offering the citizens of las vegas to be a control group to see if your theory -- >> i did offer i was turned down. wrong, absolutely wrong. don't put words in my mouth. >> you just said we'll be a control group. >> excuse me i said was i offered to be a control group and i was told by we can't do that we would love to be that placebo, something to measure against. >> reporter: nigel a server at creasers palace is out

of work. >> everybody wants to reopen and get back to work and have the economy rolling again, but at this point i think that would be reckless and just irresponsible. >> reporter: nevada governor. >> i am not going to allow our workers to be put in a position that they have to decide between their job and their paycheck and their life. >> i agree with him 100%. >> reporter: caesars entertainment ceo says while he's eager to open up, safety comes first. what do you think reopening would look like for cesars >> i think what you'll see isthe casino and by that i mean, every other slot machine, three people at a table, maybe every other table. >> reporter: for an entire industry that never sleeps this is uncharted territory and nobody wants to gamble with getting it wrong steve patterson. >> those people that lose their job in las vegas, the staggering toll with 4.4 million americans filing for unemployment last week jo ling kent has more

on this. >> reporter: tonight, the number of workers devastated by unemployment continues to skyrocket. >> the unemployment process for me has been a really frustrationing. >> reporter: more than 26 million jobless claims have been filed since march and it's hitting low income workers hard more than half say they or someone in their household lost a job or taken a pay cut. among the states hurting the most, florida where derrick bailee applied for unemployment on march 17th and still hasn't received any money. >> that's very frustrating for someone like me who always had a plan. >> reporter: lee cox shares that frustration. she applied for unemployment in ohio that same week. she lost both of her part time jobs. >> i would say i call anywhere between, i don't know, 10 to 30 times a day. i don't have a very big safety net. i have minimal

savings. >> reporter: one problem plaguing many states, those decades old computer systems simply overwhelmed connecticut now implementing a software fix they hope will clear out six weeks of backed up unemployment claims. small businesses are also waiting for financial help today members of congress, many wearing face masks and social distancing debating the latest relief package in the house. even with an additional $310 billion in the paycheck protection program, some small businesses worry they'll miss out again after the first round allowed bigger restaurant chains with fewer than 500 employees per location to qualify. we've still got businesses with three employees going after the same pool of money as those with 300 and i assure you, those big guys, they have more expertise and manpower to get themselves into a program like this so we could end up in the same situation. the money runs out and the little guy misses out. late today after much public pressure, ruth's chris steak house said it will

give back the loan and sweet green giving back following shake shack this week. >> jo ling kent tonight, thank you. this evening stunning new insight on the spread of the virus, researchers say it was actually spreading in several cities long before we previously knew here is miguel almaguer with that. >> reporter: the new study out of new york today confirming how quickly and unknowingly the virus can spread nearly 14% of the 3,000 residents randomly tested had covid-19 antibodies meaning they had the virus. with nearly 20 million people in the state, some 2.7 million new yorkers may have already been infected. >> they had the virus. they developed the antibodies, and they are now quote unquote recovered. >> reporter: for some, the numbers while staggering aren't surprising the hidden outbreak may have long been in infecting americans in plain sight in cities like san francisco, new york, boston, chicago and seattle. researchers at

northeastern say by mid february as the coronavirus crisis unfolded in china, san francisco and new york had more than 600 unidentified infections two weeks later on march 1st, the cdc confirmed 23 cases in five major u.s. cities, but researchers say models suggest the true number of infections was likely 28,000. >> we have a situation now where the numbers of confirmed cases is the tip of the iceberg. >> reporter: the cdc began implementing airport screenings the president then ordered a travel ban to china and later europe but researchers believe americans were already dying from the virus the doctors didn't know tonight, the family of an fdny firefighter sharing their loss little jay natalie was one week shy of turning five months when her family says she passed from complications of the coronavirus. a silent killer taking the most

innocent of lives. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> heartbreak upon heartbreak we'll be back in 60 seconds with the question you and your family might be struggling with even if businesses reopen, how soon will you feel safe to go back in public next tonight the growing struggling with even if businesses reopen, how soon will you feel safe to go back in public? capital one knows life doesn't update you about your credit card. so meet eno, the capital one assistant that looks out for charges that might surprise you and helps you fix them. another way capital one is watching out for your money, when you're not. what's in your wallet? one is watching out for seresto, serjake...eresto.ot. seresto, seresto, seresto. whatever your dog brings home to you, it shouldn't be fleas and ticks.

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coronavirus in the fall i am convinced of that. >> reporter: a cbs news poll finds if stay-at-home orders were lifted, 48% say they would not return to public places until the outbreak is over. >> people dying. >> reporter: in orange, ohio this family has been home for a month. spencer and halle working from home, leo home from college, oli and max doing online school work. >> yeah, kind of like bouncing off the walls annoying. >> reporter: staying at home is getting old but they are in no hurry to go back out what will it take for you to feel comfortable going back out again? >> i don't know about my kids leaving the house? i don't know. >> reporter: when people are allowed to leave home, dan simons who owns restaurants in maryland is already considering how to make customers feel safe. >> i'm ready to have less tables, maybe no seating at the bar. i can imagine where diners use their own devices to look at the menu instead of me

handing the same menu to folks over and over totally contactless payment. no cash back and forth. >> reporter: for now, he's focussing on takeout orders and feeding the employees he laid off. >> i laid off 1100 people on march 16th and sounds like a data point but it's not. that's 1100, that's one plus one plus one and their families and their incomes and so you know, we got to get people back to work but we have to do it safely. >> reporter: these are not easy decisions for business owners or families most americans say the top priority right now should be staying home to slow the spread of the virus lester >> all right tom, thank you in the search for solutions tonight, inside the clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine and the volunteer who signed up after losing someone close to him. here is richard engel. >> reporter: the race is on for a vaccine and mike, his doctors asked us not to use

his last anytime to protect his privacy. he and 11 others were injected with a vaccine mike is a maintenance engineer and doing the trials he still lives at home with his family but under close medical observation for 28 weeks. your energy is good? >> yes, yes. >> reporter: the vaccine in mike's body is being produced by a pennsylvania based company. their approach is to inject part of the virus' dna code to fool our bodies into thinking we've been infected for real and start producing virus fighting antibodies. >> i think we're very optimistic in our vaccine's ability to be safe and potentially effective. >> reporter: the gate's foundation gave $5 million to support the research. >> they, you know, miracle

able to say okay, we're back to normal. >> reporter: mike told us he was inspired to be an early volunteer after a friend died. he thinks from covid-19 and to help his family. >> if this works out and this trial that you're on -- >> when it works out. >> reporter: when it works out, how are you going to feel then? >> you hear everybody say this is the new normal. i don't want this to be the new normal i want this to be an inconvenience and we can get back to normal. >> reporter: one of several companies in the world working towards a vaccine. experts caution none of the approaches is guaranteed to work, and carry risks, which is why so many safety checks are required before any potential vaccine is mass distributed. lester >> richard engel, thank you. much more from bill gates with savannah tonight at 10:00 eastern time.

tonight, the nfl draft getting underway and the top players being hailed as a hometown hero. we're calling attention to something impacting so many families in this pandemic, hunger here is kerry sanders. >> reporter: even before food banks for overwhelmed by americans desperate to feed their families joe burrow used his acceptance speech to remind the nation there has always been hunger in america. >> there are so many people that don't have a lot, and i'm up here for all those kids in athens county that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. >> reporter: burro grow up in athens ohio where close to 1 in 3 people lives in poverty. when he spoke out, donations poured in. the athens county food pantry got $650,000 in about a week five years worth of contributions.

>> when people say hometown hero, that young man is truly a hometown hero and he will remain a hometown hero forever. his name will be forever linked with serving his community and where he grew up. >> reporter: at his hold high school, coaches say the bug -- bulldogs captain was always aware. >> the humanity and gratefulness he has for everyone that's helped shape his journey endears you to joe and so many. >> reporter: he recent recalled the essential workers at the local lowes hardware. >> thanks for all you're doing we're couped up at home and you're working hard for us. >> reporter: joe burrow is expected to be the first pick he'll be at his parents' home on a webcam, a local hero rooting for his hometown kerry sanders, nbc news. >> what a terrific story. we're back in a moment with a deadly tornado outbreak in the middle of this pandemic and the

burrow is expected to be the first pick. he'll be at his parents' home on a webcam, a local hero rooting for his new threat we're watching tonight. e middle of this pandemic and the new threat we're watching tonight. there's my career,... my cause,... my choir. i'm a work in progress. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. prescription dovato is for adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment and who aren't resistant to either of the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. dovato has 2... medicines in... 1 pill to help you reach and then stay undetectable. so your hiv can be controlled with fewer medicines... while taking dovato. you can take dovato anytime of day,... with food... or without. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its... ingredients or if you take dofetilide. if you have hepatitis b, it can change during treatment with dovato and become harder to treat. your hepatitis b may get worse or become life-threatening... if you stop taking dovato. so do not stop dovato... without talking to your doctor. serious side effects can occur, including allergic reactions,...

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now, more than ever. tonight, at least seven people are dead in a wave of tornados that hit us people are obviously struggling with the pandemic. our morgan chesky is in texas. >> reporter: tonight a tornado outbreak raking the south. >> that's a tornado moving across. >> reporter: in georgia, a twister spawned by the

very same system behind this deadly tornado killing two in oklahoma yesterday. >> wow. >> reporter: that danger hit texas, too near houston, the town of onalaska left three dead and injuring 30 others meteorologists say the tornado wasn't on the ground long but when it was, it left behind an unmistakable trail of destruction shaking trees and lifting homes off their foundation and leaving hundreds left picking up the pieces. >> i knew what that sound was. >> reporter: kip and his family rode out the storm inside their home. >> as a dad, you're always in control. i wasn't in control anymore. >> reporter: tonight, the rush is on to clean up with even more storms coming. morgan chesky, nbc news, onalaska, texas. >> we're back with the burning question a lot of kids are asking now finally, we wanted to let you know a new episode of "nightly news kids edition" is back in a moment with the burning question a lot of kids are asking now. buy a new ford, we'll defer 3 payments

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finally, we wanted to let you know a new episode of "nightly news kids edition" is available now. we explain what a vaccine is and how they can prevent us from getting sick and we received a bunch of great questions including this one from rosie. >> you're supposed to be washing your hands at least for 20 seconds during covid-19 or sing a song what song do you guys sing >> well, you're going to have to tune in to hear my song can you guess what it is probably not "nightly news kids

edition" is available on our youtube page and our streaming service peacock. for now, that's our broadcast, i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other other. each other. the iconic bay area comp the gap - revealed it )s right now at 6:00, a dire warning. the iconic bay area company, the gap, revealing its burning through cash and now its future is uncertain. the news at 6:00 starts right now. >> we have a lot going on. let's check in with raj who is working from home. >> we have a uniquely bay area story you tonight.

we have lewis, and the doctors the ucsf for a special message. >> we have a grim announcement from the governor today. california has now had its deadliest day to date. 115 died within the last 25 24 hours. that brings the total numbers of deaths to 1,469. he did mention that hospitalizations are starting to decline. but the numbers are not dropping as quickly as doctors would like. >> death, out of caution, were out of the woods, and that is why i continue to encourage all of you to do what you have done that led to that stabilization. >> the governor announced he signed a new executive order, that stops debt collectors from collecting debt. he notes the order protects your stimulus